Systems and methods herein generally relate to printers, printing systems, and printing methods, and more particularly to using clear marking material (clear toner) to achieve various printing effects.
Clear marking materials can be used to achieve different printing effects, such as gloss effects, dimensional effects, etc. For example, clear toner includes non-pigmented marking particles, and is formed of the same particles used in primary (e.g., red, green, blue (RGB)) and subtractive (e.g., cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK)) toners (except that clear toner excludes the pigmenting component). Clear toner can provide a noticeable glossy appearance. Such clear marking materials can be applied in the first printing pass, or in one or more subsequent printing passes that print clear marking material on a previously printed sheet.
In certain instances, clear toner may selectively provide a slight color cast or gloss. The gloss and/or cast may be used to create a visual appearance of a generally transparent image on the substrate. For example, clear toner can be patterned to create a mark in the form of an authenticating or watermark rendered on a substrate, and such watermarks are independent of other printing on the sheet. The mark is observed as a generally glossy image.
Also, clear marking materials can be used to produce dimensional printing that gives printed products a raised or textured image. In some examples, specific graphic elements can be selected to receive dimensional ink so that they appear “raised” off of the page. For example, a swirl, snowflake or even each line of text can appear raised off of the page. Dimensional printing can also provide a texture that spreads over the entire product (like a flood coat), which can be excepted for image area(s).